One of the most common flaws in the swing of a poor or average golfer is the failure to keep his or her leading arm straight during the golf swing. Leading arm, as used herein, refers to the left arm of a right-handed golfer and the right arm of a left-handed golfer. If the elbow of the leading arm is loose and permits the leading arm to bend or flex during the golf swing, the arc traveled by the clubhead is reduced, resulting in a reduction clubhead speed at the point of impact with the ball. By failing to keep the leading arm straight, it is difficult to consistently return the clubhead to a square, level position at impact, which leads to miss-hit balls or errant shots.
Various different types of athletic training devices have been proposed in the past, and are exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,468,580; 3,074,723, 3,419,276; 3,419,277; 3,658,345; 3,877,426; 3,900,199; 3,975,015; 3,990,709; 4,476,857, 4,911,728; 4,504,064; 5,069,457; 5,096,199 and 5,174,575. For a variety of different reasons, none of the various devices disclosed in the aforementioned patents have met with commercial success.